Category: IGN

In case you missed it, Final Fantasy’s Magic: The Gathering set was, as Ron Burgundy would say, “kind of a big deal”.

Just a few days ago, we shared that the Commander Decks had dropped under MSRP for the first time at Amazon, but now you can save even more if you want to buy all four.

Magic’s Final Fantasy Commander Decks Just Dropped In Price Again at Amazon

The 2025 Pokémon World Championships just concluded, and as is tradition, the closing ceremonies featured new announcements fun for Pokémon fans of all kinds, presented by Tzunekazu Ishihara, President and CEO of The Pokémon Company. Here’s a round-up of all the important Pokémon announcements revealed at the World Championships you don’t want to miss, including the introduction of a new fan event called PokémonXP, and much more.

Pokémon Champions Coming to the 2026 Pokémon World Championships

The yet-to-be-released Pokémon Champions, coming to mobile and Nintendo Switch in 2026, will be the game used in the official Championship Series video game format in 2026 and beyond. Read more about how Pokémon Champions will be replacing Pokémon Scarlet and Violet in the official format here.

Empoleon, Dhelmise, and Vaporeon Joining the Pokémon Unite Roster

Empoleon will be coming to Pokémon Unite as a playable character on September 19, while Dhelmise and Vaporeon are “coming soon.” No word on what roles the three new Pokémon will be.

Starting on September 4, Groudon will be taking over for Rayquaza at the Theia Sky Ruins in the final two-minute stretch of the game. Defeating Groudon will give you a “massive Attack boost and goal-scoring speed increase.” But if the opposing team knocks you out, they’ll steal the buff from you!

Mega Evolution Coming to Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket

A new season is coming to Pokémon TCG Pocket this fall, and with it, the debut of Mega Pokémon, including Mega Altaria, Mega Gyarados, Mega Blaziken and more Mega Evolution Pokémon ex.

Legendary Pokémon Eternatus Makes its Global Pokémon GO Debut

Eternamax Eternatus began appearing in the Anaheim, CA right after the Pokémon World Championships concluded, but that won’t be the only chance for GO players to get their hands on this rare Pokémon. The Pokémon GO: Dark Skies event will take place from Monday, August 18 to Saturday, August 23, with the Max Finale taking place between Saturday, August 23 and Sunday, August 25. During the unticketed event, which can be joined from anywhere in the world with the free GO Pass: Max Finale, players will be able to catch every Dynamax and Gigantamax Pokémon that has appeared so far, plus Eternatus.

Mega Charizard X and More Returning to Pokémon TCG

We got a sneak peek of some new cards featuring Mega Evolution Pokémon and cool full-art cards during the closing ceremonies, including for Mega Charizard X ex, Mega Gardevoir ex, and Mega Lucario ex. Though not a “mega” itself, Oricorio ex was also revealed, which has a unique Ability called Excited Turb: As often as you like during your turn, if you have any Fire-type Mega Evolution Pokémon ex in play, you may use this Ability. Attach a Basic Fire-type Energy card from your hand to one of your benched Fire-type Pokémon.”

We also got a look at a new, adorable Mega Dragonite ex card, but not the full-art version just yet! Its Ability Sky Transport will allow you to switch your Active Pokémon with one of your Benched Pokémon.

4-Player Ranked Battles Coming to Pokémon Legends: Z-A

The latest trailer shown durin the Pokémon World Championship closing ceremonies featured a breakdown of Z-A Battle Club’s four-player Ranked Battles. We saw in the trailer four trainers battling at once, being able to take down multiple Pokémon at once with powerful, well-timed AOE attacks–like Draco Meteor. The goal is to get the most knockouts you can before the three-minute timer is up, and don’t worry, you can rejoin after one of your Pokémon faints! These real-time Link Battles! can be played locally or online against other players.

PokémonXP, a New Pokémon Fan Experience, Coming to San Francisco

We already knew the 2026 Pokémon World Championships were coming to San Francisco, but so is PokémonXP, a new “event that celebrates all things Pokémon” with “a range of Pokémon-centric festivities.” It will take place August 28 to August 30, 2026, overlapping with the 2026 Pokémon World Championships, at the Moscone Center in downtown San Francisco. Passes will go on sale September 17, 2025 and start at $120 USD for a multi-day pass, which includes two Pokémon Trading Card Game booster packs, a PokémonXP collectible pin, and a lanyard.

There are two different multi-day passes. The regular one, and multi-day + arena pass, which includes normal access to the PokémonXP event, plus access to the arena on Championship Sunday.

2026 Championship Sunday Taking Place at Chase Center in San Francisco

This year, The Pokémon World Championships hosted Championship Sunday in an arena, and in 2026, they’re upscaling it even more, bringing Championship Sunday to the massive Chase Center, which has a seating capacity of 18,064 (at least, for basketball games.) Compare that to the Anaheim Convention Center Arena, with a capacity of 7,500. Which, I heard, was filled to capacity this year!

IGN was at the Pokémon World Championships in Anaheim this year, where we watched 2025 Pokemon World VGC Champion Kevin Han make history, and played a first-ever demo of Pokemon Legends: Z-A.

Casey DeFreitas is a deputy editor on the guides team at IGN and this year is the second time she’s covered the Pokémon World Championships in Anaheim, CA. Catch her on socials @ShinyCaseyD.

In a Pokémon World Championship Series first, the 2026 and future formats will be using yet-to-be-released Pokémon Champions as the game for VGC competitors instead of a “mainline” game. To switch up the format even more next year, Pokémon Champions will include the Mega Evolution mechanic in the official format.

Usually, players compete in fierce Pokémon battles throughout the year for a spot at the Pokémon World Championships using the most recent “core,” or “mainline” Pokémon game, like Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, or Pokémon Sword and Shield before that.

Pokémon Champions isn’t a self-contained narrative game, but rather a new, multiplayer battle-focused Pokémon game coming to both mobile and Nintendo Switch. It features a simplified training system, which should make competitive battling more accessible than ever. It will also have compatibility with Pokémon Home, allowing trainers to transfer legacy Pokémon from other games. We’re unsure which Pokémon from what games will be legal to use in next year’s format.

Pokémon Champions features “core-style battles” with gimmicks from all eras of Pokémon, including Mega Evolution, originally from Pokémon X and Y, and Terastalization, from the recent Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. So far, we know that Mega Evolution will return in Ranked Battles in this year’s official format. Mega Dragonite, recently revealed in a Pokémon Legends: Z-A Trailer, will also be coming to Pokémon Champions.

Pokémon Champions is set to be released in 2026 and is being developed by Game Freak in collaboration with The Pokémon Works. Players usually begin competing for Championship Points soon after the previous year’s World Championships, so we’ve yet to see how the release date will affect tournaments for this year’s format.

This is a year of many firsts for the Pokemon World Championships. VGC Champion Kevin Han made history by taking the championship title in the Junior and then Senior divisions in back-to-back years, and it’s the first time Championship Sunday was held in an arena. Next year, the 2026 Pokemon World Championships’ Championship Sunday will be held at the Chase Arena in San Francisco.

Casey DeFreitas is a deputy editor on the guides team at IGN and this year is the second time she’s covered the Pokémon World Championships in Anaheim, CA. Catch her on socials @ShinyCaseyD.

Pokémon World Championships competitor Kevin Han just won the 2025 Video Game Seniors World Champion title in Anaheim, CA, making him the first to win the VGC Pokémon World Championships in both the Junior and Senior age divisions. To make this achievement even more impressive, Han took these titles back-to-back, and this year, with a completely undefeated record.

“I have no words to describe it. It’s an unreal feeling, I still can’t believe it,” Han said after being asked about his unprecedented achievement.

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Magic: The Gathering is having its biggest year yet with Final Fantasy’s Universes Beyond set, and its cards dominate the top-selling cards of the year.

In fact, in putting together this top 10, every entry was Final Fantasy themed, from characters to Surge Foils worth hundreds.

With that in mind, we’ve put together the top 10 below, covering Final Fantasy, Edge of Eternities, Tarkir: Dragonstorm, Aetherdrift, and Innistrad Remastered.

Here’s the top 10 for each, thanks to data from TCGPlayer.

Final Fantasy

According to TCGPlayer, the top-selling Final Fantasy cards are as follows:

1. Sephiroth, Fabled SOLDIER (Borderless – Surge Foil)
2. Cloud, Ex-SOLDIER (Borderless – Surge Foil)
3. Starting Town
4. Yuna, Grand Summoner (Borderless – Surge Foil)
5. Tifa Lockhart (Borderless – Surge Foil)
6. Cloud, Midgar Mercenary (Borderless – Surge Foil)
7. Tifa, Martial Artist (Borderless – Surge Foil)
8. Vivi Ornitier
9. Y’shtola, Night’s Blessed (Borderless – Surge Foil)
10. Yuna, Hope of Spira (Borderless – Surge Foil)

Many of those Borderless Surge Foil variants have been commanding a fair amount of value on the secondary market, but Starting Town popping up near the top is a nice surprise.

Edge of Eternities

The next most popular set at the time of writing (and the most recent), Edge of Eternities shows there’s plenty of appetite for Magic’s own characters and stories.

1. Icetill Explorer
2. Texxeret, Cruel Captain
3. Quantum Riddler
4. Cosmogrand Zenith
5. Exalted Sunborn
6. Evendo, Waking Haven
7. Uthros, Titanic Godcore
8. Texxeret, Cruel Captain (Borderless)
9. Ouroboroid
10. Quantum Riddler (Borderless)

Tarkir: Dragonstorm

The set before Final Fantasy might feel as though it’s been swept under the rug, but anyone looking for dragons will find a lot to like. And yet, the top 10 most popular cards include multiple versions of the same four cards.

1. Elspeth, Storm Slayer
2. Ugin, Eye of the Storms
3. Voice of Victory
4. Ugin, Eye of the Storms (Borderless)
5. Elspeth, Storm Slayer (Borderless)
6. Ugin, Eye of the Storms (Showcase)
7. Voice of Victory (Borderless)
8. Elspeth, Storm Slayer (Showcase)
9. Mox Jasper (Showcase)
10. Mox Jasper

Aetherdrift

Magic’s power-sliding set is still proving pretty popular, with the top 10 cards according to TCGPlayer data including lands, sorceries, and that all-important Aetherspark.

1. Stock Up
2. Riverpyre Verge
3. Bleachbone Verge
4. The Aetherspark
5. Sunbillow Verge
6. Ketramose, the New Dawn
7. Sunbillow Verge (Borderless)
8. Bleachbone Verge (Borderless)
9. Wastewood Verge
10. Riverpyre Verge (Borderless)

Innistrad Remastered

Perhaps unsurprisingly, many of the top 10 here are versions of everyone’s favorite vampire, Edgar Markov. He appears no less than four times!

1. Avacyn, Angel of Hope (Showcase)
2. Edgar Markov (Showcase)
3. Edgar Markov
4. The Meathook Massacre (Showcase)
5. Edgar Markov (Retro Frame)
6. Edgar Markov (Showcase) (Serial Numbered) (Double Rainbow Foil)
7. Avacyn, Angel of Hope (Retro Frame)
8. Tree of Perdition
9. The Meathook Massacre
10. Emrakul, the Promised End (Showcase)

Lloyd Coombes is an experienced freelancer in tech, gaming and fitness seen at Polygon, Eurogamer, Macworld, TechRadar and many more. He’s a big fan of Magic: The Gathering and other collectible card games, much to his wife’s dismay.

Magic: The Gathering has been running for literal decades, and while reprints will always keep making harder-to-find cards a little easier to collect, there are some cards so rare that they become almost like urban legend.

There are cards worth thousands, for example, but there are also cards worth millions, from wild serialized, one-of-a-kind prints like The One Ring (famously purchased by Post Malone) to cards like Time Walk, which were so powerful they’ve been banned.

Below, you’ll find some of the priciest cards around, marking some of the rarest in the game’s history.

Magic: The Gathering’s Rarest Cards Of All Time

10 – Time Walk (Alpha)

A card so rare that TCGPlayer doesn’t have it, Euroakus was a Heroes of the Realm card awarded to Wizards’ European Team in 2020.

Heroes of the Realm cards are given to Wizards employees, with their name printed. As Wargamer explains, one of these Euroakus cards was sold for $25,200 in 2022, but the name was blurred out.

8 – Phoenix Heart

If you’re looking to upgrade your gaming PC and want to keep your budget to under $1,500, then one deal stands out above all the rest. Walmart is offering the iBuypower Element Pro gaming PC equipped with an AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT GPU for just $1499 with free delivery. This was the best “high-end” gaming PC deal during Prime Day – better than anything I found on Amazon – and it’s still the best deal I’ve seen so far at this price point. The Radeon RX 9070 XT is an outstanding graphics card that can run the latest games (like Battlefield 6) in 4K.

iBuypower Element Pro Radeon RX 9070 XT Gaming PC $1499

I know a multiplayer shooter is really clicking when my buddies and I are all swapping stories at the end of the night. There was the time my Banshee was skyjacked over a pit in Halo Infinite, and I used my Grappleshot to quickly re-skyjack it, sending the would-be thief to their grave. Or when we were down to just my friend Geoff against four opposing players in a game of Valorant, and he channeled his inner John Wick to suddenly become a shotgun god and win it for us. After a week in the trenches, streets, and crumbling buildings of Battlefield 6’s first two beta weekends, one thing is clear: we are going to have a lot of stories to share.

The first thing I noticed as I loaded into the Conquest mode was just how much destruction was happening all around me. Buildings were coming apart, trees were shattering, and walls were crumbling as dirt and dust filled the air. It looks like a war movie, and stopping to let the smoke from a car explosion clear made the area I was in feel less like a playground for a shooting game, and more like, well, a battlefield. On more than one occasion, I found myself drawing the unwanted attention of an enemy tank, and the sheer volume of wreckage all around as it’s cannon opened fire left me feeling like Lord Beckett walking across his rapidly disintegrating ship at the end of Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End.

That destruction is not just there for the vibes, either. Blowing away the other team’s cover with the Assault class’s grenade launcher forces a satisfying reevaluation of their strategy, and knocking down walls to breach an objective or create new sight lines is a tactical delight. That’s not to say you will be kool-aid manning your way around everywhere you go. Unlike The Finals, where the walls are (affectionately) made out of dried breadsticks, here cement walls act like cement, and you’ll need that aforementioned grenade launcher, some rockets, or a trusty tank to fully take advantage of the map, elevating the importance of your equipment selection.

There are four classes to choose from in the Beta, though you have a lot more control over their kit than in previous Battlefield games. Anyone can equip any gun, so if you want to be a sniper rifle-packing Support medic, you can. I’m a little weary of the possibility of meta builds cropping up that would be a mistake not to use, but so far, the variety I’ve seen across both friends and foes seems in keeping with what I would expect in any other shooter like this. Each class also gets special perks with their signature gadget, weapon, and trait. For example, the Engineer takes reduced explosion damage and the Recon can hold their breath to steady their Sniper rifles, which provides a nice push to match your loadout with your class.

People often gravitate towards assault classes, but Battlefield 6 continues the series’ history of making the support options viable, if not essential at times. Engineers are a necessity in bigger maps with vehicles, as their rockets hammer away at map-dominating tanks, and their blowtorch repairs friendly vehicles. Any class can raise the near-dead, which is a change from previous Battlefield games, but the long activation time is often a fast way to join your injured buddy, so the Support’s ability to instantly get the down-but-not-out to their feet using their defibrillator can turn the tide of a close skirmish. This is especially valuable in match types where your side has a limited pool of respawns to draw from.

The shooting itself errs on the easy side, which I think is the right fit for the massive number of players you can see in a given match. Weapons are very accurate, and the minimal recoil means they remain accurate through sustained fire, resulting in a relatively high skill floor, with even bottom-of-the-leaderboard players contributing a decent number of kills much of the time. That’s not to say that skilled play isn’t rewarded. I’ve been on both sides of a fight where one player shoots first, hits a body, and is taken down by a perfectly placed headshot in return.

The fast time-to-kill rewards a keen eye rather than just being the fastest on the draw, and the importance of decision making above almost anything else is a great differentiator compared to other military shooters. Do you take the slow route through back alleys to your objective, risking some potential ambushes on the way, or do you try and find the right time to spring across the wide open road, hoping a sniper isn’t watching or an armored vehicle isn’t on patrol? It’s supremely satisfying to set up an ambush inside a key building, shotgunning players that are foolish enough to run by without checking their corner.

The match types available in the beta don’t break any new ground, but I don’t mind, given how well they play. Conquest is the headliner, with 64 players mixed between infantry and vehicles, and wide open maps with control points to fight over and hold. Eliminating enemies or owning those points drains a limited supply of respawns on the other team, which means playing the objectives or looking for fights both contribute in satisfying ways. Breakthrough is similar, though with a more defined offense (which has those same limited respawns) and defense (with infinite reinforcement). There are more options like Rush, which is a bit like Counterstrike without rounds, or classic Team Deathmatch alongside a few others, but I haven’t been able to peel myself away from the joy of Conquest long enough to spend much time with them yet.

We are still in the beta period, but I’m already having an absolute blast with Battlefield 6’s multiplayer. The action is sublime, with a cinematic quality to the constantly raining debris that is enhanced by how legitimately effective it is to take strategic advantage of that destruction. The accurate guns and short time-to-kill mean anyone has a chance in a gunfight, but the other classes bring enough to the table to make focusing on keeping your team alive or your vehicles operating a viable way to contribute, even when direct combat isn’t your strength. I still need to spend more time with the various vehicles, which is a game unto itself, and I need to play the maps a lot more before I can really render any informed opinions on them (I’m looking at you, sniper-infested cliffs on Liberation Peak). It will also be interesting to see what, if anything, changes or is retuned for the official launch in October – but right now, even in beta form, Battlefield 6 might be the most fun shooter I’ve played this year.